


Burn Baby Burn

by icthyoabe



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Grillby isn't very good at controlling his magic oops, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-23 21:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6131359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icthyoabe/pseuds/icthyoabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Humans learn at a young age that you shouldn't play with fire, that it's dangerous and hard to control. You would think a being made of fire would be a bit better at it though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burn Baby Burn

**Author's Note:**

> I like the idea that maybe Grillby doesn't have complete control over his fire/magic. I dunno, it just makes for an interesting situation I guess, especially if he were to end up spending a lot of time with humans. I mean monsters could probably protect themselves right? Magic and all that? I don't know, I haven't put that much thought into it to be honest.
> 
> But here have this little one shot anyways. :)

It was hot, _way_ too hot.

 

This was your first thought as you began to wake up, feeling groggy, a little sick, and knowing it was nowhere near morning. You groaned and whined, rolling over to your side of the bed and away from the source of the heat. You sweaty pajamas twisting uncomfortably around your body.

 

But you still felt hot. Your second thought was that maybe you had a fever. Were you getting sick? It was possible but… then you noticed the faint glow in the room, even with your eyes closed you could recognize it. A faint smile spread across your face. No, you weren’t getting sick.

 

You snuggled into your pillow with a sigh, letting your mind wander as you tried to drift back to sleep despite the heat. It had been annoying at first, but you’d learned not only to live with it, but to find comfort in it.

 

And it wasn’t often that this happened, a couple times a month at most. Grillby would come home dead tired, crawl in bed, and forget that he wasn’t sleeping alone anymore. Now there was a human lying beside him and he needed cool off just a tad, just enough for you to be comfortable. Not that it made too much of a difference really as he wasn’t very good at it (not that you’ve told him that), and normally the heat didn’t bother you anyways, but for some reason tonight…

 

Your eyes snapped open at the searing pain in your right arm, sitting up so fast the world spun and faded out for a moment before you finally managed to focus on…

 

Your bed, and the fire that was slowly but surely spreading down the sheets and onto the floor. Normally the sight of fire in your bed would be a welcome one, as odd as that sounded, but this wasn’t exactly what you had in mind.

 

“H-hey, Grillby!” You hissed, stumbling out of bed and practically tearing off your shirt, which had caught fire at some point. “Grillby, please, w-wake up!” You said, a little louder, but clearly not loud enough.

 

What were you supposed to do? You couldn’t go over there to wake him without getting burned, and he clearly was too out of it to hear you. Maybe if you yelled louder? Poked him with something from over here? You didn’t want to startle him, if the way he was twisting and turning was any indication the dream he was trapped in wasn’t a good one. Maybe a more subtle approach?

 

But as you stood there and stared in a panicked, slightly nauseous daze, the fire was spreading across the floor. You briefly wondered just how much damage this was causing. How much would it cost to replace this stuff? But that was a problem for later, right now you have more urgent matters to attend to.

 

Okay, deep breath, calming thoughts…

 

Now you didn’t know much about what to do in this kind of situation besides ‘stop, drop, and roll’ but you did know that water would, in most cases, slow it down if not put it out completely. You grabbed the half empty water bottle from your nightstand and-- carefully not hitting Grillby-- splashed it onto the bed, putting out a bit of the fire. You repeated this until the water bottle was empty and you had a tiny path to crawl across to reach Grillby.

 

You heaved a sigh of relief noting that the fire that still licked at the bed sheets weren’t spreading towards you just yet. You reached up to shake at Grillby’s shoulder but stopped. What if you made it worse? Startled him? If this is what happens on accident, what would happen if he accidentally-purposefully attacked you?

 

Well, seeing as how the alternative was to either sit here in your bedroom and burn to death slowly or wait until one of the neighbors called the fire department it didn’t seem like you had much of a choice.

 

“Grill, c’mon, please wake up…” You gently pushed at his shoulder with a shaking hand, your arm still burning as you moved it. “It’s gettin’ kinda hot in here babe…”

Your voice shook as you nudged at him harder.

 

“Hmm..?” He crackled, voice barely audible. He startled, just slightly, body jerking and bright eyes snapping open. He mumbled your name, blinking owlishly as he noticed you hovering over him. “What…?”

 

“Grillby, please--” His breathing was harsh and it seemed to take a moment for him to realize where he was and what was happening. But as soon as he did, he sat up staring out at the flames with wide, panicked eyes.

 

Now Grillby wasn’t the most expressive of monsters, mostly due to his lack of facial features, and you wouldn’t say that you’ve completely learned to read him, not nearly as well as he can read you anyways. But you could tell from the hunch of his shoulders and the slight gape of his normally hidden mouth that he was mortified. Not to mention the odd hue his fire had turned.

 

You muttered his name, a hand resting in his leg, and he seemed to snap out of it. He clinched his hands into fists and all of the flames dissipated, leaving nothing behind but thick smoke and ruined sheets, plus the scorch marks up the walls and across the carpet. The two of you just sat there in the bed, smelling of smoke and breathing heavily.

 

You had the odd urge to laugh. And you thought waking up to a leg cramp was bad.

 

Grillby though, he seemed to curl in on himself, head dipping between his hunched shoulders and arms wrapping around his huddled knees. It was impressive really, how such a large man could make himself appear so small. Maybe it was a fire monster thing? He hated losing control of his fire, though it’s never been this bad before. He has on occasion set a book he was reading on fire or melted a candy he was eating, sometimes he even got a bit ‘hot and bothered’ while he was snuggled up to you or holding you hand. But this? This was new.

 

You leaned into his side, draping your arms around him. It wasn’t until you had smushed your body against his that you remembered that you’d pulled your shirt off earlier, a faint blush spreading across your face. But Grillby didn’t seem to notice or care, leaning into your embrace with a shuddering sigh. Could he cry? You wouldn’t think so, given his relationship with water. Maybe he cried lava? Smoke? Whatever, it really didn’t matter right now.

 

All of a sudden his body stiffened and he pulled away from you slowly, gently wrapping his hand around your wrist. You watched him, puzzled.

 

“I- _I_ did this.” He said, horrified, gently turning your arm around to see the long burn across the side. “I--”

 

“Hey, c’mon it was an accident.” You cut him off, not bothering to take your arm from him. “It doesn’t even hurt anymore.” Okay, so maybe that was a lie, although the throbbing burn had dulled to an ache, you still wouldn’t mind running some cold water over it.

 

“Liar.” Mumbled, ghosting his fingers over the burn.

 

You sighed, finally pulling away from him and climbing off of the bed. He watched you silently as you pulled a fresh shirt from the dresser and replaced your sweat soaked shorts with some baggy pajama pants. “I’m going to go clean this, bandage it, and…” You furrowed your brow at the bed, exhaustion finally setting in now that the panic was over. “Find some spare sheets.”

 

“I’m sorry.” He choked. “I’m so sorry.”

 

“It’s alright, Grillby, really.” It wasn’t, not entirely, half of your bedroom was burned and smelled of smoke. “It was an accident, I know you, you wouldn’t have… not on purpose.” That much was true. You were frustrated and tired but you couldn’t stay mad at him, and besides it could have been much worse.

 

“Let me help.” He said suddenly, uncurling himself from the bed and stumbling over to you. “Please, just… I’m sorry...”

 

You sighed, but nodded, leading him out of the bedroom and into the small on suite bathroom. You sat on the toilet seat and he pulled the poorly stocked first aid kit from the closet. He was being so, so gentle. But as he rubbed some cream and bandaged you up, quietly murmuring apologies, you were suddenly glad that you'd let him do it. He was good!

 

“You’re good at this, Grillby.” You say softly.

 

“I have experience with burns.” He replied just as softly. You wanted to hear more, wanted him to open up, but you knew better than to push this particular subject. His head was hung in guilt and his breath still came in shaky huffs.

 

“Well, I'm glad, because _I_ sure don't.” You joked, trying to fill the silence and cheer him up. It was a pretty pathetic attempt anyways, though in your defense you are exhausted.

 

It didn't work.

 

“What was it?” You ask, turning to stare into his eyes, barely slivers of white light. “The dream? You _were_ dreaming, right?” His hand stilled on your arm and he sighed.

 

“Yes, but…” He trailed off, tearing off the end of the bandage and smoothing it down. “I'd rather not concern you with it.”

 

“But I want to be concerned with it!” You snap, causing him to flinch back. “I'm sorry it's just… We're in this together, aren't we? I just thought maybe talking about it--”

 

“Would help?” He finished, looking up from your now neatly bandaged hand to catch your gaze. He sighs, smoke curling up from his barely visible mouth. “Really it  just… it doesn’t make since.”

 

“What doesn’t make since?”

 

“The dream. I guess, most dreams don’t make since, but this one… it felt like a memory but I know it wasn’t, i-it was like…” You could imagine him furrowing his brow, shoulders slumping as he tried to find a way to explain it. “It was so real.”

 

You sighed, giving him a soft, tired smile. “It’s fine, Grillby really.” You relent. “You don’t have to tell me, just remember, I’m here if you ever do want to tell me.” You could tell he was relieved, he was a personal man, you respected that. Just as he respected you and your constant nosy-ness.

 

Somehow you both fit together. Guess it’s like they say, and opposites attract.

 

He leaned into your touch gratefully, helping you up and leading you carefully out of the bathroom. From the way he was treating you, you’d think it was much worse than it actually was, as though you were made of glass. Burnt glass. But you knew how bad he felt, and if this made him feel better, who were you to complain? Besides, after what little sleep you’d gotten you probably wouldn’t be able to hold yourself up for very long anyways.

 

You both stood at the foot of your ruined bed, neither one of you saying or doing anything. You knew you must have some spare sheets hidden away somewhere but…

 

“Do you want me to go find some fresh sheets?” Grillby asked quietly. “You can wait here.” It was a nice offer, but you knew that he’d be lost the second he left the room. You couldn’t even remember where they were, and you were the one who unpacked them.

 

“No..” You trailed off, leaning further into his shoulder. His warmth was comforting, strangely enough, though you could tell he was purposefully making himself cooler. “You think if we snuggle _really_ close, or maybe if I lay on top of you, we’d both fit on the sofa?”

 

For the first time that night you heard his low, crackling laugh. “I suppose it’s worth a try.”

**Author's Note:**

> Seeing as how my bed has never caught on fire I'm not entirely sure how that would go, so let's assume any inaccuracies are due to the fact that it's a magic fire. Hope it wasn't too obvious that this was my first fic.
> 
> Also, there was little to no editing involved so if you see any mistakes please lemme know!
> 
> Hope you liked it! :)


End file.
